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CVE Record

CVE-2023-3915: Incorrect Execution-Assigned Permissions in GitLab

An issue has been discovered in GitLab EE affecting all versions starting from 16.1 before 16.1.5, all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.2.5, all versions starting from 16.3 before 16.3.1. If an external user is given an owner role on any group, that external user may escalate their privileges on the instance by creating a service account in that group. This service account is not classified as external and may be used to access internal projects.

MediumCVSS 6.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

GitLab EE could let an external user with group owner permissions create a service account that is treated as internal. That account may access internal projects, creating confidentiality and integrity risk beyond the intended external-user boundary.

Executive priority

Prioritize remediation on self-managed GitLab EE environments that allow external collaborators. The issue is not broadly unauthenticated, but it can cross project visibility boundaries and expose internal code or data if external owners exist.

Technical view

CVE-2023-3915 is a CWE-279 permissions issue in GitLab EE 16.1, 16.2, and 16.3 before fixed point releases. The flaw requires an external user to already have owner role on any group. Created service accounts were not classified as external, enabling access to internal projects.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to GitLab EE instances on 16.1 before 16.1.5, 16.2 before 16.2.5, or 16.3 before 16.3.1, especially where external users have group owner roles.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show active exploitation, and KEV is false. Public issue and HackerOne references indicate technical details exist. Practical misuse requires high privileges first: an external account must already be group owner.

Researcher notes

Focus assessment on permission boundaries between external users, group ownership, service account creation, and internal project visibility. Avoid assuming all GitLab editions or versions are affected beyond the listed EE ranges.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade affected GitLab EE branches to 16.1.5, 16.2.5, 16.3.1, or a later supported fixed release.
  • Review all external users with owner roles on groups.
  • Remove unnecessary external owner assignments.
  • Audit service accounts created in groups owned by external users.
  • Check GitLab vendor guidance for any additional cleanup or hardening.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm GitLab EE version and branch against the affected ranges.
  • List external users with group owner permissions.
  • Review service accounts created during the affected-version window.
  • Check whether those service accounts can access internal projects.
  • Verify post-upgrade behavior prevents external users from creating non-external service accounts.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
4

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

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cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-279: Exact CWE lookup

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cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2023-3915 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.5 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
2ADP providers
3Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: pocAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
6.5CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N1.25.2GitLab

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

6.5Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2023-3915Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
CVECVE Program Container

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
GitLabGitLab16.1, 16.2, 16.3unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-279

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.